Hopelessly Devoted
by Patricia Sage
Summary: Marley wants help practicing for the lead role in Grease. Artie sets her up with Blaine, who desperately needs a healthy distraction. Marley doesn't know why he's so sad, but she wants to help him out. Marley/Blaine friendship!


**Hopelessly Devoted**

**Author's Note: Okay, episode 5 inspired me. I love Marley to death. And I kind of love how DramaticAndEmotional!Blaine is totally canon now. :P So I had to write this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own **_**Glee**_** or **_**Grease**_**.**

"Hey, Marley," Artie called out as he approached her. He couldn't get rid of the commanding tone in his voice—directing really was his passion—but he tried to calm it down a bit. The cast list had been posted only yesterday and he was already in full bossy mode. This was going to get done and it was going to get done right.

Marley shut her locker and turned the boy in the wheelchair. "Hi, Artie," she said with a smile. "What's up?"

He placed his hands in his lap and looked at her seriously. "I just wanted to know where your head's at for playing the lead role. Are you ready for this?"

"Oh," she clutched her books to her chest and thought, "Well, I'm really excited. And, I'm willing to work really hard."

"I'm not firing you, Marley, don't worry," Artie reassured, "You're the perfect Sandy. I'm just wondering if you would like some help."

She nodded with a grateful and understanding look in her blue eyes. "Well, I've never done this before, so…"

"That's a maybe to the help?"

"What do you have in mind?" she asked, walking to keep up with Artie as he moved down the hallway, "I think that everyone involved in directing and choreography and stuff would be too busy to help me."

"Yes, we are," he stated, turning a corner. She followed him, not sure where he was going. "But, I have another person in mind. Someone very talented but tragically held down. Someone who desperately needs any kind of healthy distraction."

"Who?"

Artie didn't answer her directly, however. He wheeled right up to someone who had their forehead pressed against the surface of a locker. "Hey, Blaine," he said softly but firmly.

The boy moved his face away from the metal and looked bleakly at Artie with big brown eyes. "Hey, Artie," he said, turning around to slump against the lockers.

"Blaine, you know Marley; Marley, you've met Blaine. There. You're acquainted," Artie looked up at them both expectantly.

"Why do we need to be acquainted?" Blaine asked, but Marley was beginning to understand. He seemed to listen to what he said and rephrased it, "Not that I don't like you enough, Marley, it's just that I'm wondering what…"

She laughed, "Don't worry about it. I'm wondering the same thing." Her forehead creased a little when all she got was a weak smile in return from Blaine. He looked…very sad. Almost like a kicked puppy. This attitude was strange, because she could remember him being full of energy and such a fantastic performer. He was so talented that she had actually developed a small crush on him before being informed that he was gay.

"Okay, here's the deal," Artie said, "Marley has the lead role and wouldn't mind some helpful tips," she smiled and nodded to his words, "And you, Blaine, were the lead in the musical last year and did very well. Also, you're kind of stuck in a depression and I need to you get in a better mindset for the production, so doing this might help." Blaine nodded as well, knowing that it was Artie's own way of expressing concern. "So?"

"I'm good with that," Marley said, giving an encouraging look to Blaine, who still looked a little reluctant.

He shifted uncomfortably, "I don't know, Artie, I'm not sure if I'm…" he looked at Marley's kind face and sighed, "Okay, sure. I guess it couldn't hurt."

Artie clapped his hands, "Great! So, you two work that out, and I expect a full report next week on your progress." He wasn't just talking about Marley. "See ya, homies!" he then wheeled off down the hallway, leaving the two performers standing by the lockers.

"So," Marley said cheerfully, "What time works for you?"

Blaine rubbed his forehead absently. A few of his curls had escaped their gel prison, but he didn't seem to notice. "I have sewing club after school today, but tomorrow I'm free. Do you want to come over to my house then and we'll work on stuff, or…?"

The brunette grinned, "That sounds great! I'll meet you after school tomorrow, then!"

"Yeah."

Marley hesitated, then moved forward to give Blaine a short hug. She wasn't sure if he appreciated it, but was glad she did it, non-the-less. Some people just look like they need a hug. "See you later."

"Bye."

* * *

"Wow, your house is huge!" Marley exclaimed as they stepped through the front door. She looked around with wide eyes at the spacious foyer with its polished banisters, the expensive décor. However, despite how it looked outrageously clean and expensive, it didn't really seem like a place one would call _home_.

Blaine threw his keys into a dish by the door as he took of his jacket and his messenger bag, leaving them crumpled under the coat hook. "Yeah, I guess it is," he said in a dull voice. Marley pursed her lips at him a little and hung up his jacket as well as her own. She understood that he was hurting, but he didn't have to be so curt towards her.

He seemed to understand this as well. "Look, Marley," Blaine said softly, pinching the bridge of his nose as he faced her, "I'm sorry for treating you like this. I'm just— Let's just say that I'm not the happiest with life right now. And, you don't deserve me taking it out on you. You haven't done anything except be surprisingly supportive. So, I'm sorry." He looked at her with pleading hazel eyes and she nodded.

"It's okay," she said, giving him a small smile.

He attempted to return it. "Okay. So…let's go to my room to practice?" he suggested, gesturing to the staircase. "My parents have a meeting, so we have until 6:00, which should be plenty of time."

Marley nodded again, "Lead the way," she said, tucking a long strand of hair behind her ear.

Blaine's room was fancy, but it had way more personality than any of the rooms she had seen so far. It was slightly cluttered, but organized. As he fiddled with his iPod dock on the bedside table, Marley examined the pictures pinned to a corkboard on his wall. There were a couple of him with a bunch of boys dressed in blazers and ties, a few of what she could only assume were family pictures—was that the guy from the free credit rating commercial?—and a lot of pictures of him and Kurt.

Those ones had the look about them as if he had taken them down and put them back up many times. Marley had only briefly met Kurt when he was helping with the auditions, then he moved to New York or something. Besides that, all she knew was that he and Blaine were going through some trouble that was affecting Blaine severely.

"Okay," Blaine said, breaking the silence in the room, "What do you want to start off with?"

Marley blushed and turned to him directly, "Well, I heard that you auditioned with _Hopelessly Devoted To You_, so maybe you could help me out with that? It's the song I'm most nervous about doing justice."

Blaine nodded, "Sure. Do you want to sing it and I'll give you tips, or…?"

"I was actually thinking that you could sing it…and I'll learn from you. That kind of thing." Marley was nervous that he would take it the wrong way, but when she looked up, the curly-haired boy was nodding thoughtfully.

"That could work." Blaine walked back over to the iPod, gesturing for her to sit down on the bed. She stiffly sat as he found the right track. Seconds later, the familiar intro filled the room. It was in a more manageable key for the boy's vocal range.

And then Blaine opened his mouth and sang. Marley could only stare as he went through the song. The way he moved and the way he executed the notes was truly breathtaking, but what entranced her the most was his _expression_. His face had anguish written all over it and his eyes were filled with so much longing and pain that she thought she might drown in them. There was no way she could sing this song half as well as he did.

When the final note faded off, Marley barely remembered to clap. "Wow," she said, "That was amazing."

Blaine sunk into a chair across the room. "Thanks," he said, "So, do you know what you want to work on?"

"How did you get that much _emotion_ into the song?" she asked before she could stop herself, "And how come you're not the lead role?"

He shrugged, "I turned down the role of Danny. I'll be playing Teen Angel." She waited for more, but that was all he said on the subject. "As for the emotion thing…you just have to find a way to connect to the song and to the emotional place of the character at the time."

"Like what?" She knew of this advice already, but if he could teach her how to apply it like he just did, she needed this information.

"Well, think about why Sandy's singing this," Blaine said, staring at the carpet, "She'll love him no matter what. She'll never stop loving him. Even though he kind of treated her badly." It seemed like he had forgotten she was in the room, but Marley continued to listen, "I mean, it's a totally different relationship that they have now. They're not going to act the same now that they're not seeing each-other every day. And he has different friends, a different world now, where she doesn't fit. And, yeah, he ignored a couple of her calls but, I mean, he was busy and she should have just let that be as it was, not gone and done something so _stupid_!"

Marley was a little bit confused now. She couldn't remember something like this in the movie. "Um, what did she do?"

"She _cheated _on him!" he yelled, and his voice was starting to sound like he was holding back tears, "She cheated. Even though what they had was the best kind of love she's ever experienced and he was so _perfect_, she just screwed it all up!" Marley stared at him as his face twisted into something so sad and hurt that her heart ached for him. They weren't talking about _Grease_, anymore. "She promised to him that he would be the only one for her and she believed it. But then she made the worst mistake of her life and she just doesn't know how to fix it! He's not returning her calls and there's no way for her to contact him since he's so far away and he's avoiding her. I mean, what is she supposed to do? Because, she's not about to let him go, but she doesn't know how to make it _better_! There's no way for them to go back to the way they used to be, but she wants it so badly that the can barely _breathe_ and—" Tears started to fall from his eyes as he slumped in the chair. "And she doesn't want to let him go, because she's _hopelessly devoted_ to him."

"Oh my god," Marley whispered. She got up from the bed and carefully approached the sobbing boy. He flinched when she touched his arm. He had forgotten that she was there; he had probably forgotten where he was in general. "Blaine…" at the sound of his name, he just cried harder. Marley kneeled down and wrapped him in a hug.

She rubbed his back like her mom did when she was sad. "It's okay. It's going to be okay," she muttered.

"No, it's not!" he whimpered. His tears were soaking through her shirt. "I screwed up so _bad_."

Marley didn't know what to do. "You can make it better, though. You guys can fix it." She had no idea what she was saying. "He just needs time."

Blaine sniffed and nodded against her shoulder. Then, his back straightened as if he had been electrocuted. He stood up and moved away from Marley, wiping his face furiously. "God, I'm sorry," he said, trying to get his voice under control, "I can't believe I just—"

"It's okay, Blaine," Marley stood up. The boy was facing away from her, his body language screaming his shame. "Really. Friends are there for each-other, right?"

He turned to her then, his face red and blotchy and his hair rumpled. Even though he was older and more experienced than her, Marley thought he had never looked so young. "We're…friends?"

She blushed, "Well, only if you want to be, of course. But, I mean, I figured that we might as well be. You know, since…"

"Since I had a breakdown and cried all over your shirt." He looked quite embarrassed, so she smiled.

She walked over to him and took his tan hand, "It's no big deal, really," she said softly, "You clearly need somebody right now. And…I don't have that many friends, so…"

He let out a breath and gave her a small smile too, "Okay."

The next day, Marley came over to Blaine's house again. This time, for a _real_ practice session. They went over a couple of Marley's songs, and she stood in for Frenchie so that he could practice _Beauty School Dropout_. Blaine didn't cry anymore. Instead, they sang and laughed and talked.

Marley even invited him over to her house one time, something that she wasn't comfortable with any of the rest of her friends. She was uncomfortable, since Blaine's family was so rich, but he didn't judge her at all. He simply complimented her on the décor of her bedroom and they danced around the living room singing _Greased Lightning_. Blaine liked to jump on furniture.

She couldn't help but wish that he was the Danny to her Sandy, but understood that he wasn't in the right emotional place. So, she was simply there for him, making him smile and keeping him company. And, he was there for her, too. When some jock insulted her mom in the cafeteria, Blaine stood up for her. By the way he was standing, Marley suspected that he would be good in a fight.

Sometimes, people just need a friend. And, Marley was glad that she found one in Blaine.

**Author's Second Note: Well. That got really friendshippy at the end. I don't even know where half of this stuff came from. Jeez. :P Anyway, please tell me if you liked it!**

**Take care.**

**-Patricia Sage**


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